An employment law news item reported yesterday in the San Francisco area's
East Bay Business Times may serve as a wake-up call for employers nationwide:
A former Chevron Corp.
employee was awarded $5.5 million by a San Francisco federal court jury
that found Chevron liable for retaliation and wrongful termination.
Kiran Pande, who holds a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Stanford University,
was fired by Chevron in late 2003 after 15 years with the company.
After a three-week trial stemming from incidents that occurred between
September 2000 and December 2003, the jury found that Chevron
retaliated against Pande after she complained about discrimination and
fired her for reasons that violated a public policy. It did not find
Chevron guilty of interfering with Pande's right to medical leave.
Pande was awarded roughly $3 million for past and future economic losses, and $2.5 million in punitive damages.
(more)
Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007
by Brad Neese
filed under